In Search of Silence

As you can imagine, a classroom filled with 20 children does not offer very much silence. In both the morning and afternoon classes, a few of the children were asking their classmates to "stop talking" "just wait for a second" and "listen." I found that they were not requesting this so that their own voices could be heard, but instead they were searching for something else. When I asked them what they were listening to when no one was talking their answers ranged from "peace" to "I'm tired of hearing talk" to "quiet." 

We are currently in the early stages of an inquiry unit on sound, so the absence of sound or silence became a related path for us to follow. Many of the children had ideas about what silence was, such as "Silence is when there is nothing, only you."

This led us on a search to find silence. 

When trying to find silence inside our classroom, we were interrupted by the noises in the classrooms and hallways surrounding us. Wondering if silence were to be found somewhere else in the school, we began our hunt. 

We could not find silence in the school. Instead we heard the sounds of people walking, talking and moving and the school's heating and ventilation systems. We also heard sounds we could not locate and this led us into the unexplored second floor of the school where the big kids are! Here, we were able to see construction and hear its sounds.

Unable to find silence inside of the school, one of the children said, "Maybe silence is outside?" While outside we again closed our eyes and opened our ears. We heard the wind moving, birds tweeting and cars beeping.

Some parts of the school yard had even less silence than others. Near the front of the school we were annoyed, and intrigued, by the amount of sound trucks were making as they backed into the parking lot!

In the end, we were not able to find silence. Despite this, during our search, the children were so focused on listening to the environment around them that they were able to isolate many different sounds that regularly go unnoticed. This has led them now to think about sounds more intently and the ways in which they are created.

Song of the Week: December 10

This week, the children learned about Hanukkah. We had fun learning the popular dreidel song. I have also included a counting song involving latkes, or potato pancakes for you to practise with your child at home.

Song of the Week: December 3

The children were very excited about having a BINGO big book for our shared reading this week. Here is a holiday song that follows the same pattern as BINGO. 

Beautiful Stuff Self-Portraits

After sorting our beautiful found materials, we used them to create self-portraits. 

We laid out all of our materials so they were all visible to everyone. We then chose  the objects we wanted to used to create our own faces.


 Here are some of the beautiful portraits we created with our beautiful stuff:

Song of the Week: November 26

Here is a version of the hokey pokey we are using to help us remember the parts of a tree. Ask your child to show you the actions.

Soil Experiments

As you know, we have been exploring trees and what they need to live. We have learned that they need water, air and sunlight to make food. After digging around in the ground for roots last week, some of the children began wondering what else they could grow in soil. As a result, a few different experiments emerged to find out.

We planted pumpkin seeds. Will it grow into a flower or a pumpkin?

We planted mung bean seeds. 

We planted a leaf. Will it grow into a tree?

We planted grass roots. 

We gave them water.

We blew on them to give them some extra air. 

We placed them by the window so they would get sunlight.

Now we have to wait and see what happens!

Beautiful Stuff

Thank you to everyone who managed to find some "beautiful stuff" lying around their homes! The children had a great time sorting their treasures. We will use them this week to create our very own self-portraits. 

Song of the Week: November 19

This week, the children and I enjoyed reading the big book version of The Five Little Monkeys and acting it out throughout the week. 

Sorting

The children have been exploring the mathematical concepts of sorting and classifying concrete objects and describing the rules they used to do so. 

Sorting our markers, crayons and pencil crayons by colour and tool

Sorting foam pieces by colour and shape

Sorting buttons by colour, size and number of holes

Sorting rocks by texture

At home: Sorting and classifying comes naturally to many children. Work with your child to sort objects around the home (e.g. socks and other types of clothing when you are doing the laundry, their toys when they are tidying up) and have then explain their thinking by describing how they have sorted the objects.

Song of the Week: November 12

In response to Remembrance Day, we have been discussing peace and what it means to us. Here is a lullaby that helped continue our discussions.

Eric Carle Inspired Art

After reading several books with illustrations by the famous Eric Carle, the children have enjoyed using one of his techniques, ripped paper, to create their own pictures.

Here are self-portraits created with ripped paper. 

We decided to turn our drama centre into the local Valley. Here is our Eric Carle inspired tree that we will use to track seasonal changes. 

At home: Try creating your own pictures using ripped paper. Tearing the paper is a very simple activity your child can engage in to strengthen the small muscles he/she needs for writing. 

Song of the Week: November 5

Here is a quick song the children had fun singing this week. The repetitive "ck" sound found in this song was a great way to practise our sound of the week "ck" and the letters C and K. 

Why Do Leaves Change Colour?

One of the most common questions that arose during our inquiry unit on trees was "Why do the leaves change colour?" Prior to the storm we experienced, the children drew the trees in our Kindergarten courtyard.

Some of the children decided that the leaves are yellow because "a painting man comes and paints them." To test out their theory, we conducted an experiment and painted a tree leaf black. When we revisited the tree, we saw that the leaf was no longer painted, since the paint washed off the leaf. 

Through this experiment, the children realized for themselves that their painting theory was not correct and we are coming up with new theories to explain the colour change leaves go through in the fall. 

Song of the Week: October 29

Halloween was an enjoyable day for the children. Some of us chose to dress in costumes and we all participated in the school-wide Halloween Parade. 

Here is the last Halloween song we learned together. 

Song of the Week: October 22

Here is a spooky song the children have had fun with this week.

Our Trip to the Valley: P.M. Class

Despite a light drizzle, the afternoon class made it down to the local valley to look for signs of fall. We enjoyed looking at the beautifully coloured trees on our hike up and down a large hill. While in the valley, we explored fall colours through a matching activity, ate snack, played some running games and discussed how our senses let us know it was fall.    

One of the most exciting parts of our trip was being visited by a deer!

On our way back to school we stopped to have a look at the Don River. 

We had a great time down in the valley. Thank you to our parent volunteers. We couldn't have done it without you! The morning class' trip to the valley has been rescheduled to Monday, October 29.

At Home: The valley is a great place in the immediate community to visit after school, on weekends and during school holidays. Talk to your child about what they are seeing and encourage them to ask questions about their observations and discuss their theories. (How did the leaves turn orange?) 

Our Trees

Using the "treasure" we found right outside our classroom, the children created their own representations of our trees; the trees directly outside our window. Using only natural materials (in this case twigs and leaves) we attached them to transparency paper using white glue.

They turned out beautifully, so we displayed them in the hallway for the whole school to see.

Feel free to pop in when you pick up your child and have a closer look!

Song of the Week: October 15

Drama Centre: Doctor's Office

A lot of the children have been to see the doctor or have visited someone in the hospital, so they decided to turn the drama centre into a doctor’s office.

We discussed what we needed to do in order to turn the existing home centre into a doctor's office. This meant removing certain furniture, food, pots and pans, etc.

At the centre, a variety of picture books have been incorporated into the setting to help the children learn more about doctors and what they do. 

At home: I anticipate our doctor's office being open for a couple more weeks. If there is anything you can contribute from work or home to make the setting more authentic it would be greatly appreciated. Donation ideas include, but are in no way limited to, eye exam charts, old x-rays, and lab coats.

Patterning

For the past few weeks, the children have been learning about patterns. They are working on extending and creating patterns using a variety of objects in the classroom, as well as identifying patterns around them (on clothing, in books, in architecture, in nature). 

At home: Patterns can be found everywhere and created anywhere. Encourage your child to identify patterns they see while walking to and from school (e.g. the layout of bricks, line patterns on leaves). 
Create patterns with your child at home using common objects (e.g. lay out forks and spoons in a variety of patterns: AB/fork spoon fork spoon, ABC/fork spoon plate fork spoon plate, AABB/fork fork spoon spoon, AAB/fork fork spoon, ABB/fork spoon spoon)